Understanding autism: we still have a long way to go | Letters
Imported
Readers respond to a piece by John Harris about moving beyond an awareness of the condition to practical steps to help those living with it
John Harris is right (Enough ‘autism awareness’. The necessity now is action, 13 June). It is now time that we had some action to improve lives for autistic people. Is it time to move on from autism awareness, though? I think not. Without a general knowledge of what constitutes autism and what people with autism live with, and without an understanding that each person with autism is different and will need a unique approach, there will be no useful action.
I work for families who have an autistic child and who are worried about their experience of school. This work is largely in mainstream schools, where the majority of children with autism are educated. Generally, the effort made by the school to understand both the condition and how it affects their particular pupil is dismal.
